This invention relates to a dental instrument for use by dentists in installing amalgam fillings in teeth.
Amalgam filling material for tooth cavities is formed as a pliable mixture of silver alloy and mercury. When the cavity preparation has been completed the titurated amalgam is carried by a carrier and placed in the cavity and packed therein by a cylindrical plugger. When the packed alloy reaches slightly above the carvo surface a ball shaped burnisher is used to spread and pack and roughly contour the amalgam filling and then a cone-shaped burnisher is used to form the anatomy of the filling briefly before carving by carver instruments.
During this procedure an assistant stands by to pass these various instruments to the dentist, paying close attention to which instruments the dentist wants to use. The assistant cannot do anything but await the dentist's request for one instrument after another. Both the assistant and the dentist are under stress because the assistant must respond correctly to the dentist's requests and the dentist is annoyed and delayed if the correct instrument is not passed at each request. Such mistakes interrupt the dentist's concentration on the work.